Market Update: International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) – IBM launches new cloud services for blockchain

[Reuters] – IBM on Friday announced new services to help companies design and develop blockchain technology in a secure environment in the cloud, a network of computers where users are increasingly storing their data and computing work. The blockchain, the underlying technology behind bitcoin , is a digital tool for doing a slew of functions such as recording and verifying transactions. The technology, according to its many supporters, would make it easier to create cost-efficient business networks without requiring central control. Read more on this. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) , with a current market cap of $140.23B, started trading this morning at $146.49. Shares have traded today between $144.19 and $147.34 per share with its 52-week range being $116.90 to $176.30. IBM shares are currently priced at 10.89x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 10.23x earnings multiple. And for passive income investors, the company pays shareholders $5.20 per share annually in dividends, yielding 3.49%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 19 sell-side analysts are looking at $2.88 per share, which would be $0.96 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.55 sequential decrease. The full-year EPS estimate is $13.51 which would be a $1.41 worse than last year’s full-year earnings. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $20.04 Billion. If realized, that would be a 3.70% decrease over the year-ago quarter. In terms of ratings, Morgan Stanley upgraded IBM from Equal-Weight to Overweight (Feb 18, 2016). Previously, JMP Securities Initiated IBM at to Mkt Outperform. With the above information in mind, readers should note that the average price target is $142.50, which is 2.72% below where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:IBM) Similar Articles: Company Update: International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) – IBM Brings Object-Based Storage Services to the Cloud Market Update: International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) – IBM and Japan’s Largest Stock Exchange to Test Blockchain For Trading Environments Market Update: International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) – CSC Embraces IBM Cloud to Accelerate Hybrid Cloud Adoption